Why Markets Fail Nov 4, 2009
Where is your empirical data for the supposed standard of living decline. I think an X-box in every house, along with 2 auto's, cable tv, and a rapidly expanding waistline signify and INCREASE in sol don't you. (Townhall.com)
Bernanke learns fromthe wrong crash Nov 4, 2009
Indeed, for the first time this generation has empirical evidence that the '29 crash is unlikely to have caused the depression. The 1987 crash, which was larger than 1929 in its one-day drop, caused no discernable economic depression. (Asia Times Online)
Legalise drugs and society would benefit Nov 3, 2009
Bruce Anderson: Let's be honest. from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Wall Street, Meet Ken Feinberg, the Pay Czar Nov 2, 2009
"Where is the empirical evidence that by doing what Feinberg is doing, we'll solve the problems that caused the financial crisis?" asks Ohio State University finance professor Ren; Stulz, who has looked at whether excessive CEO pay caused the credit crunch. "I don't see it.". (Time.com)
When there's something strange ... Nov 1, 2009
You might say it is disrespectful of others beliefs to hold their accounts to an empirical standard, but my beliefs require it of me. " tlpresler wrote on Oct 30, 2009 1:38 PM:" What it comes down to is an attempt to substantiate, somehow, occurances and anomalies which seem to defy conventional explaination. (Lodi News Sentinel, CA)
it will help them win Oct 31, 2009
"God in the CCU?" Spring 1990), the empirical results reported by Byrd do not inspire much confidence either. For example, 13 patients (7%) in the prayed-for group died, compared with 17 (8. (Harper's Magazine)
Petroleum Products Pricing In Ghana Economics Or Politics? Oct 30, 2009
Opposition to the subsidy debate points to the empirical evidence that the subsidies on petroleum products have been one of the causes of poor performance of state refineries and their economies ... There is empirical evidence that most of the times; futures prices are slightly higher than spot prices because the markets are not perfectly efficient. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Pick n Pay denies Shoprite's largest supermarket claim Oct 29, 2009
Badminton said: We do not wish to engage in a debate on market share in the media with Shoprite but will rely on Nielsens, from where we both derive our statistics, to provide empirical information. These figures speak for themselves. (Business Report, South Africa)
Spitzer: The Four Things We Need To Know To Prevent the Next Financial Crisis Oct 28, 2009
officially chartered by Congress this summer as the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, has the chance to be that third kind of commission, gathering the missing empirical data on fundamental questions that can guide future decision-making. We already know an awful lot more about what happened last year than we did in 1932, when the was created to investigate the Wall Street crash. (Slate)
Lawrence Krauss: How Women Can Save the Planet Oct 28, 2009
Empirical work indicating that providing schooling for women and girls will address these problems includes study after study showing that educated women have fewer children, are wealthier and are less likely to accept fundamentalist extremism. If we want a safer world, we should consider the utility of spending dollars on educating young people as an alternative to troops and weapons. (Scientific American)
Policy to make credit mkt stable Oct 28, 2009
The model uses empirical evidence to highlight how a small credit correction can provoke a major equilibrium shift, and bring about a sudden collapse in the supply and demand for loans ... Whats stressed is a better empirical understanding of the demand and supply of credit in India. (India Times)
Dirty elections: To the rigger the spoils Oct 27, 2009
Faced with vast quantities of empirical evidence, economists like to run cross-country comparisons and regressions. So far, political scientists have done less of this sort of thing so the more reason to welcome an attempt by Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, two Oxford academics, to organise the political material into a usable database of 786 elections (clean and dirty) from 155 countries in 1975-2004 and to draw conclusions, striking and otherwise. (The Economist)
Malibu dentist aims to ban mercury amalgam fillings (3) Oct 25, 2009
"Through July 28 of this year, the FDA had been collecting comments supported by empirical data and scientific evidence concerning classification of and special controls for dental amalgam, and will issue a final rule after reviewing the comments.While the FDA has yet to recommend that people who already have mercury amalgam fillings remove them, Rota believes that this process is the first step to detoxification and elimination of a substance that can continue to affect people all their... (Malibu Times, CA)
McCain Moves to Block FCC's Net Neutrality Oct 24, 2009
"I remain concerned ... that the FCC is poised to take intrusive action into a well-functioning Internet ecosystem without either the demonstrated need or clear legal authority to do so. I know of no empirical evidence suggesting that the openness of the Internet that we all value is under threat today, or is likely to be under threat tomorrow. In the absence of evidence of market failure or demonstrable consumer harms, the costs of government intervention are more likely to outweigh the... (Newsmax)
Jaideep Mishra: Monetary policy Oct 21, 2009
In tandem, we do need to look for empirical evidence of how the quantity of money in circulation buoys output in the system. The fact remains that credit offtake has decelerated this fiscal. (India Times)
Republicans and premature celebration Oct 21, 2009
If this is true [see below] then offer us some empirical evidence in support of this claim - not just an opinion. If it is true then this is a very serious charge and should be investigated and they should be exposed. (Harper's Magazine)
Ghana In Need Of Construction Industry Development Agenda Oct 20, 2009
However, here, CIDA is not just a mere form of ad-hoc, haphazard or latent vision (as we seem to practising in Ghana) but a diligently prepared and systematic framework with empirical legitimacy for driving decision making in the practice of the industry ... Among others, some of the key issues that the Construction Industry Development Agenda would be expected to rigorously address is to set well grounded and empirically enriched indicators on the economic significance of the GCI, cost... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
South Africa: Govts May Need to Do for Workers What They Did for Banks Oct 20, 2009
However, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy insisted that "the empirical evidence of the initial increase in informality as trade openness occurs does not, in my opinion, invalidate the case for trade opening. The reality of adjustment costs does caution against an easy assumption that simply opening trade is sufficient to secure development and greater prosperity.". He believes that, "trade liberalisation has transition costs and not all segments of society reap the benefits of it. Trade... (allAfrica.com)
Scaling Back Justice? Oct 19, 2009
" And the much decried flood of lawsuits is not rising but receding. According to the National Center for State Courts, in the 10-year period ending in 2006, medical malpractice suits were down four percent; product liability claims also down four percent . . . and personal injury claims dropped a surprising 21%. "There is no empirical evidence that lawsuits are on the increase, or litigation's on the increase," said Weisbrod. "If people are doing things because of a fear of lawsuits, in that... (CBS News)
Click to read:Scientists Release New Polar Ice Findings Oct 18, 2009
Rather, the intent was to obtain empirical data to "ground truth" remote data acquisition from planes and satellites. Analyses thus far indicates that it does corrobate the other sources of information on ice thickness. (CBS News)
Is the World Ready for Freakonomics Again? Oct 18, 2009
So Levitt has spent his career looking for narrow subjects that lend themselves to empirical testing. His standard line is that he's not smart enough for macro. (Time.com)
Letters for Friday, October 16, 2009 Oct 17, 2009
Even if doing so would prove to increase test scores or some other such empirical measurement of scholastic achievement, it would not necessarily make it worthwhile. After all, tests, no matter how well designed, can only ever measure test-taking ability, not educational progress. (Lihue Garden Island, HA)
Economics Nobel Highlights How Social Relationships Explain Certain Economic Activities Oct 13, 2009
But such tragedies do not always happen; in many empirical studies starting in the 1960s, Ostrom found that common property can be surprisingly well-managed, because users often establish rules to mitigate damage. One example is the grasslands that extend into Russia, China and Mongolia. (Scientific American)
Sensibly done, government regulation of the financial markets can work a treat. Oct 12, 2009
Because these people's economic views are based on faith and political ideology rather than empirical evidence, they'll be impervious to the destruction from the financial crisis they helped to cause. There are lots of rude names for them, but let's call them libertarians. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
CBO: Medical malpractice reforms could save billions Oct 10, 2009
The vast majority of empirical evidence suggests that there are only minuscule savings to be found in reforming our nation s civil justice system. But the CBO report means the malpractice issue will remain in the health care debate. (Boston Globe)
Nitrogen Deposition Limits Climate Change Impacts On Carbon Sequestration Oct 9, 2009
Against this position, de Vries and his team used amongst others the analysis of approximately 400 European forest plots at individual tree species level and stand level to show that the overall ratio of carbon to nitrogen is 30-70 kilograms of carbon per kilogram of nitrogen, around one tenth of that claimed by Magnani et al. A summary of the results of this empirical research has been published in Nature last year (De Vries et al., 2008) while details of the results of the empirical studies... (Science Daily)
Letter: Get the facts; we have a great school system Oct 6, 2009
A visitor could walk into any school in the district (should he or she choose) and see the reliance on empirical data to make decisions about classroom instruction. The effectiveness of a curriculum is only as good as its ability to meet the immediate needs of all students. (Beverly Citizen, MA)
Coins: Mystery Of Ancient Roman Population Oct 6, 2009
Applying a blend of quantitative and empirical testing normally found in the natural sciences rather than relying on traditional historiographical methods of reading and interpreting ancient sources, Turchin and Scheidel developed a simple mathematical model that used coin hoards to project population dynamics before and after 100 BC. ... Researchers applied a unique blend of quantitative modeling and empirical testing normally found in the natural sciences to determine the population size of... (Science Daily)
GTUC submits proposals on 2010 Budget to Government Oct 3, 2009
" and reduce poverty if its policies are constraining growth and rigged against the poor? 4.0 Employment 4.1 Employment creation is the single most important socio-economic as well as political challenge facing policymakers in Ghana. The challenge relate directly to the rapid decline in formal sector jobs and the informilisation of employment. In its manifesto for election 2008, the NDC noted, and rightly so, that "Ghana has enough resources for all Ghanaians to have dignified livelihood through... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
You'll never be happier, but keep working at it Oct 3, 2009
In fact, empirical research tells us the things most likely to make us happy are seeing friends, sport, cultural activities, going out, and visiting new places ... Empirical research also tells us that societies don't get happier as they get richer (a truth politicians and economists have yet to hear about) and that the more importance people place on money, the less satisfied they are with what they've got ... Yet more empirical research tells us people believe they'll be happier in the future... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Stock Graphs Can Mislead: People Prefer Stocks With Shorter Runs Oct 3, 2009
21, 2009) A new study provides empirical evidence on the Democratic premium and the presidential cycle effect by examining the implications of both factors on the predictability of US excess stock. . (Science Daily)
Joseph Stiglitz wants worlds poorest nations to solve the economic crisis (via) Oct 3, 2009
"That children are drawn to magic, that they spontaneously animate their world with spirits and spells, that they find relief and excitement in stories in which the heroes can summon supernatural forces to their aid and vanquish untold enemies these facts reflect layers of deep settlement in the human psyche. But they also remind us that, in the life of the child, belief and imagination are not to be clearly distinguished, and that both serve other functions than the pursuit of truth. It seems... (Harper's Magazine)
Antidepressant And Placebo Are Equally Effective In Child Pain Relief Oct 2, 2009
In children, the use of drugs to treat pain-predominant FGIDs is mostly empirical and based on adult data. There have been only a few small randomized clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of drugs for the treatment of pain-predominant FGIDs in children. (Science Daily)
'Nuts' To Copenhagen Sep 30, 2009
Yet, ignoring the empirical evidence, he says it's we American cowboys who are "climate illiterates" for actually looking at the Earth's thermometer and daring to notice the snow in Malibu. The Oxford conference is centered on a study predicting a 4-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures as soon as 2060-2070. (Investors Business Daily)
ESPN's Industry-Leading Research and Analytics Team Launches New Program with Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Sep 26, 2009
ESPN perfectly embodies the spirit of the WIMI concept: The questions they are asking line up perfectly with the kinds of empirical analyses that leading academics around the world have already been doing on their own, said Peter S. Fader, WIMI Co-Director. We are delighted to match them up and help conduct some terrific research together. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Economics focus: Much ado about multipliers Sep 26, 2009
This empirical approach has narrowed the range of estimates in some areas ... But overall economists find as big a range of multipliers from empirical estimates as they do from theoretical models. (The Economist)
* A chance to unblock corporate governance reform Sep 26, 2009
In the US, for example, insiders enjoy protections from takeovers that, according to a substantial body of empirical evidence, actually decrease company value. Lax corporate governance rules are not generally the result of a lack of knowledge by public officials. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Experts Talk Stocks, the Economy, and the Fed's Next Move Sep 25, 2009
As evidence of this view, 1) economic theory suggests temporary rather than permanent effects on potential growth; 2) detailed empirical studies have found evidence of a one-time hit from financial crises but no consistent impact on trend growth; 3) recent U.S. productivity performance has been encouraging. We therefore continue to expect potential real GDP growth in the neighborhood of 2% per year. (BusinessWeek)
Lawrence Slobodkin; helped launch, lead study of ecology Sep 25, 2009
Joseph Travis, an evolutionary ecologist at Florida State University, called Dr. Slobodkin a giant in ecology, and added that he was a pioneer in blending mathematical reasoning and empirical observations. With what colleagues described as a wide-ranging intellect and restless curiosity, Dr. Slobodkin built a diverse body of work not easily characterized. (Boston Globe)
Palo Alto labor union may call strike Sep 24, 2009
"???? But then the question wasn't for union leaders really. Much like the phone "surverys" by Stanford. If it's a statewide issue, if Palo Alto is being chosen to be the "Gettysburg" for this conflict, then let's also not pretend that the opposition to such will view it as just a local issue, nor solely arise from local resources, nor capitulate due to the "local circumstances". I suspect this is just wishful thinking....unless there is some consulting group hired to arrange this and raking in... (Palo Alto Online, CA)
Thomson Reuters Predicts Nobel Laureates Sep 24, 2009
Ernst Fehr Professor and Director of the Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich Zurich, Switzerland -and- Matthew J. Rabin Edward G. and Nancy S. Jordan Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Berkeley Berkeley, Calif. USA -- For their contributions to behavioral economics, including issues of preferences, fairness, and cooperation. (PR Newswire)
Transcript of the IMF’s Press Briefing on World Economic Outlook: Anyaltic Chapters 3 and 4 Sep 23, 2009
Now the first of them follows from the empirical work at the beginning of the chapter ... But I think all of this awaits a lot more exposition and empirical testing than we were able to accommodate in the chapter. (IMF News)
Want to read all about it online? It may cost you Sep 22, 2009
"There's still a lot of 'wait-and-see' attitudes out there,' said Randy Bennett, senior vice president of business development for the Newspaper Association of America. "I think a lot of publishers would like to see some empirical evidence of what happens to other publishers who dip their toes into the water. "In a worst-case scenario, imposing online fees would drive away so much of a newspaper's Web audience that publishers would lose more in Internet ad sales than they would gain in new... (MSNBC -- Technology)
Learning Curve: Is it college or bust? Sep 22, 2009
Empirical evidence contradicts that statement, he argued. When you ask employers to list the important characteristics for front-line workers, they mention such things as an applicant s attitude, communications skills and previous work experience, according to Lerman. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Perfect to a fault Sep 20, 2009
Although there is no empirical data, it does seem that not only is there significant social and cultural pressure to achieve perfection, it seems to have increased,'' he says. This is certainly something that advertisers have picked up on. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
* If you cant predict doomsday, at least have a worst-case scenario Sep 20, 2009
Empirical evidence on the accuracy of political forecasting is X to say the least X not very encouraging. In the most ambitious attempt to analyze the effectiveness of political forecasters, psychologist Philip Tetlock polled 284 political and economic experts for multiple predictions over a 20-year period, for a total of 82,631 forecasts. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Ego City: Cities Are Organized Like Human Brains Sep 20, 2009
When scaling up in size and function, both cities and brains seem to follow similar empirical laws, Changizi said. They have to efficiently maintain a fixed level of connectedness, independent of the physical size of the brain or city, in order to work properly. (Science Daily)
Outside the bubble Sep 19, 2009
The efficient market hypothesis was another theoretical construct believed by its supporters to be strongly backed by empirical evidence. In fact, Gruen says, it ended up obscuring economists' views of the real world. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Your 10 questions Sep 19, 2009
Performance on the job, dedication, versatility, suitability or fitness for the job, and empirical evidence of a likelihood of being able to discharge a higher post, are the more important criteria for assessing merit ... Empirically the public would agree that the relative lack of ostentatious living among officers during my time helped to create the perception that there was less corruption, also the greater reliability of the attention they could get from PDRM as a whole. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- Business)
We need to ask how it came so unstuck Sep 19, 2009
The answer is for academic economics to become more empirical. There needs to be a lot more emphasis on testing theories against empirical evidence - and looking for falsification - and on simply seeking to identify empirical relationships and regularities. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Gender Centre launches Research Report on HIV/AIDS Sep 17, 2009
The research was aimed at establishing empirical evidence on the link between gender, violence and HIV/AIDS, the extent at which gender based violence or other types of abuses such as neglect of women's right leads to infection rate among women. It also touched on the extent at which social issues affects the infection rate, its impact on the social status of women, examined current policies in addressing the pandemic and made recommendations for policy formulation and action on the transmission... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
U. Va. to host 'Engaging the Mind' program Sep 16, 2009
His empirical and practical research attempts to answer challenging societal and economic questions about how firms create value, especially in settings that might otherwise be overlooked. To that end, he is the author of a number of teaching case studies that examine entrepreneurship and finance in underserved markets domestic and abroad. (Chatham Star Tribune, VA)
Pedophile Ferguson 'there to stay' Sep 15, 2009
Professor Richard Wortley, from Griffith Universitys school of criminology and criminal justice, said the number was unlikely to have had any empirical basis. Authorities involved in Mr Fergusons release had most likely deemed 400 metres a safe distance to limit Mr Ferguson incidentally crossing paths with children and relapsing into his old ways, he said. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
NICB: Suspicious insurance claims up Sep 11, 2009
We don t have the empirical data to determine that, he said. We suspect it is. (Philadelphia Business Journal, PA)
Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Reviews the Low-Income Country Debt Sustainability Framework and Adopts a More Flexible Policy on Debt Limits in IMF-Supported Programs Sep 10, 2009
They supported further empirical work in this area, with a view to making it operational within the DSF as much as possible ... Most Directors agreed that the absence of remittances data of a suitable quality and coverage precludes a re-estimation of the empirical model underlying the DSF at this juncture. (IMF News)
From Huffington Post Sep 10, 2009
At some level, as an applied empirical economist, Alan Blinder is really brilliant," says Johnson. In closed-do 00004000 or meetings, Blinder did what so few do: challenged assumptions. "The Fed staff would come out and their ritual is: Greenspan has kind of told them what to conclude and they produce studies in which they conclude this. And Blinder treated it more like an open academic debate when he first got there and he'd come out and say, 'Well, that's not true. (Harper's Magazine)
Oxendine drives transit debate Sep 10, 2009
Both men, whose conservative credentials are legendary and unassailable, offer abundant empirical case for mass transit. (If you re too busy to read the book, just Google their names. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
What's "Philosychology?" -- A Compilation of Pensive Quotes, Notes, and Messages That Tap the Consciousness Sep 9, 2009
This science is a synthesis of empirical psychology along with his philosophies to methodize a practical or practicable solution to resolve the dilemmas, conflicts, or queries that humanity perpetuates upon itself. A book on ethics and other philosophical topics, this lets readers find the answers to some of their questions on life, self, relationships, and more. (Primezone Releases)
No sense in denying women safe and cheap births Sep 9, 2009
This year's Maternity Services Review reported its concern about the ''small number of Australian women [who] are choosing home births without the support of an appropriately trained health professional". Why, then, did it recommend making it harder for women to obtain such support?There appear to be two reasons. First, few women in Australia, 700 to 800 a year, choose a home birth. But this is no reason to restrict the practice further. A woman giving birth at home with a midwife will incur... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Porn on Twitter? Think of the seniors! Sep 9, 2009
Except wait, theres all this empirical data that reveals , on account of theyre way too cool for thator something. Its all grownups on Twitter. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Child welfare: The nanny state Sep 8, 2009
The report does show up some unflattering things about America, but its critique is even-handed and empirical. Continental Europeans will hardly welcome its suggestion that they are spending too much money on cherished social-welfare projects, including lavish prenatal care. (The Economist)
Obama Gridlocked Is the Market's New Best Friend Sep 8, 2009
Risk that can be quantified through theory or empirical work was one thing, he wrote: insofar as the probability can be evaluated numerically by either method it can be eliminated and disregarded. . (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
had_to_jump_in Sep 7, 2009
News Tribune - Local News. The Information you need. (Jefferson City News Tribune, MO)
Conservatism's Exaggerated Death Sep 4, 2009
He gives it credit for originating in the 1960s among disaffected liberals as a valuable corrective to progressive reluctance to examine the empirical consequences of Great Society social programs. While approving of Irving Kristol's 1970 Burkean invocation, in a special issue of The Public Interest devoted to capitalism, of a "combination of the reforming spirit with the conservative ideal," Tanenhaus dismisses Kristol's 1980s support for Reagan's economic program 00001ABB as the triumph of... (CBS News -- Opinion)
Research recommends compromise when choosing conservation site Sep 3, 2009
The new U of I research builds upon previous empirical research that others have done showing how public willingness to pay for conservation often declines with distance from whatever it is that's being protected. That phenomenon, however, is not universal. (EurekAlert!)
